Ambition in his DNA
Maternal Side
My narrator’s great grandfather, AWE Bassette Sr., was an attorney and educator in Hampton, Virginia (Bassette Elementary, 2018). He was emancipated from slavery at age eight, then went on to sit for the bar. He became a prominent lawyer in Hampton, but felt called to serve others in his community through academia. He established one of the first schools for freed Black men and women in Virginia. His son, AWE Bassette Jr., followed in his father’s footsteps to become an attorney. Rachel Bassette Noel, born in 1918, learned from her forefathers the value of education. She attended Hampton Lab Schools, which gave her a high standard for what good K-12 schooling should look like. Ultimately, she grew up to become one of the most famous civil rights leaders in Colorado history, known for her work towards racial justice in Denver Public Schools.
"And then so post-slavery in Virginia ... Hampton Institute as a higher education institution, not funded by the state of Virginia, but funded privately, had a private land perimeter inside of which a different world existed. A kind of integrated education, not fully diverse and as we would say today, but integrated to some extent in those days and more resources than the state of Virginia or Hampton would otherwise be able to provide."
- Edmond Noel
Paternal Side
Andrew Jackson Noel, my narrator’s paternal grandfather, worked with the U.S. Federal Postal Service on a mail car in Mississippi. Graduating from Alcorn State University in 1914, he became a federal employee, which gave him a position of relative power as a Black person in the South. His job was one of stature and repute in their area. His son, Edmond Forrest Noel Sr., became a prominent surgeon. Rising to the top of the Black workforce, the senior Mr. Noel provided medical care for Black patients in Denver for many years.
"I'm proud of my grandfather who came off of a plantation and ended up with a federal job and had four children. And three of them – one became a dentist, one became a doctor, one became a school teacher, and one became, actually, a successful factory worker. And they were all genuinely good human beings. And that's enough for me."
- Edmond Noel